DK - World War II Map by Map

166 TURNING THE TIDE 1943–1944

Massa

Pisa

Livorno

Florence

Siena

Piombino

Arezzo

Perugia

Terni

Viterbo

Chiusi

Orvieto

Rome

Albano

Cisternadi Latina

Anzio

Gaeta

Monte Cassino

Pico

Terracina

Pescara

Ortona

Vasto

Ancona

Pesaro

I

T

A

L

Y

T

y

r

r

h

e

n

i

a

n

S

e

a

Ad

ri at ic

S e a

eP

acs

ar paR

odi

Tiber

Sacc

o

oV

lt

ur

no

Lir

i

Lake

Trasimene

Lake

LakeBolsena Bracciano

Lake Albano

giraG

nail

o

P

o

nt

in

e^

M

ar

sh

es

German Army

Group C

German 10th Army

15th Army Group

US 5th Army

Jan 24–Feb 12, 1944Feb 16–18, 1944Mar 15–23, 1944May 11–18, 1944

Jan 22–

May 24, 1944

British 8th Army

British

5th Corps

Canadian1st Corps

Polish

2nd CorpsBritish

13th Corps

British 10th Corps

French Expeditionary

Corps (FEC)

US 2ndCorps

US 6th Corps

German 14th ArmyGerman 14th Army

G

su

at

(^) v
iL
en
T
ar
si
m
e
ne
L
in
e^
G
ot
hi
c^
Li
ne rA
n
o^
L
in
e
V
ti
re
ob
iL
en
Arno
Ro
ut
e^6
By the end of 1943, German forces in Italy had retreated to the fortified Gustav Line, also called the Winter Line. On this line lay Monte Cassino, a strategic location at the base of the Liri and Rapido river valleys that guarded Route 6—the road north to Rome.
Days before their first attack on Cassino, the Allies landed at
Anzio, well behind the Gustav Line, in an attempt to outflank the Germans and cut their lines of communication. The US 6th Corps made an amphibious landing north of the Pontine Marshes,
35 miles (56
km) from Rome. However, hesitation by the US
commander at Anzio led to his units being hemmed in at the beachhead. At Cassino, a series of bloody and very costly Allied
assaults began on January 24. Despite air support from Allied bombers flying from bases in North Africa, and later southern Italy, it took until May for the Allies to break through at Cassino.
The US 5th Army then pushed up the coast toward Anzio while
the British 8th Army advanced up the Liri River—a combined attack that the Germans could not withstand. After five months of attrition, progress toward—and then beyond—Rome was achieved swiftly. However, the Germans withdrew skillfully, falling back behind the Trasimene and Arno Lines, which gave them time to create another well-fortified line, the Gothic Line, to the north. It was here, in August 1944, that the Allies paused again.
FROM ANZIO TO THE GOTHIC LINEThe Allies’ campaign in Italy resumed in January 1944 with a long-held objective: to liberate Rome. They landed at Anzio, south of Rome, but their advance north was slowed by a series of defensive lines masterminded by German field marshal Albert Kesselring. The battles in Italy’s mountainous terrain produced some of the toughest fighting of the war.
LIBERATION AND DIVISIONRome was the first capital city to be liberated when the US 5th Army entered on June 4, 1944 (pictured). However, just two days later the Allies made the D-Day landings in Normandy (see pp.186–187), and within two months Allied troops in Italy had been redeployed. The US 6th Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps were transferred from the US 5th Army to the French Riviera for Operation Dragoon (see pp.194–195). These changes allowed German forces more time to make their retreat.
△
Greeting the liberators
A group of Italian townspeople welcome Allied troops. However, civilians often suffered most as the Allied, German, and partisan forces fought their way through
Italy for nearly two years.
Jul 19
German troops abandon the port
of Livorno, setting thousands of booby
traps before they leave.
RETREAT WITHOUT DEFEATThe Allied landings at Anzio failed to make the hoped-for breakthrough. Instead, the Germans made an orderly retreat and the Allied armies in Italy were made to fight hard for each advance northward.KEY
Axis forces Allied forcesRoute 6
Gustav LineViterbo LineTrasimene Line
Arno LineGothic Line
JAN 1944
MAR
MAY
JUL
SEP
TIMELINE^123456
1
Allied landingBattle of Anzio
Limit of Allied advance, Jan 31
HESITATION AT ANZIO JANUARY 22–MAY 24, 1944Operation Shingle landed 36,000 men of the US 6th Corps at Anzio, surprising the Germans. But rather than immediately pushing to Rome, the 6th Corps consolidated its beachhead, giving the German 14th Army time to set up a cordon to contain the Allies. Fighting at Anzio stalled the Allied advance for four months.
Aug 4
Florence is liberated.
US_166-167_From_Anzio_to_the_Gothic_Line.indd 166 22/03/19 11:48 AM